Gary Thomas Knapp (born 1947) is a former New Zealand politician of the Social Credit Party.

Political career

He became Member of Parliament for in 1980 when he defeated National candidate

Don Brash Donald Thomas Brash (born 24 September 1940) is a former New Zealand politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party from October 2003 to November 2006, and the Leader of ACT New Zealand from April to No ...

in the caused by the resignation of the sitting National MP. Knapp joined

Bruce Beetham Bruce Craig Beetham (16 February 1936 – 3 May 1997) was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s. A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teachers' Training Colle ...

in parliament, where they both had high profiles. In 1981 Knapp was elected deputy leader at the party's annual conference. In the , while Beetham lost to a National Party challenger, Knapp retained , and another Social Credit candidate,

Neil Morrison Neil Joseph Morrison (11 January 1938 – 19 September 2007) was a New Zealand politician of the Social Credit Party. Political career He won the seat in the by 172 votes, from two-term MP Pat Hunt (his election night majority was 419) ...

, won . Beetham continued as leader despite losing his seat and in 1985 Knapp failed to convince him to stand aside. Beetham did endorse Knapp to succeed him whenever he chose to retire. Beetham kept stalling his retirement leading to Knapp resigning as deputy leader in protest. Morrison was later elected to replace Beetham as leader. In the Knapp and Morrison were both defeated by

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

candidates. The next year Morrison resigned as leader and Knapp was elected at the party's 1988 conference as leader. In November that same year Knapp and eleven supporters entered Parliament House in Wellington and locked themselves in a committee room. They occupied the room for two days using the publicity to demand the government keep its word to hold a referendum on switching to a proportional representation electoral system. Following the occupation, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

Kerry Burke Sir Thomas Kerry Burke (born 24 March 1942) is a former New Zealand politician and Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He was a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990, and late ...

, stripped Knapp of his privileges as a former Member of Parliament which barred him from entering parliament buildings (unless accompanied by an MP) and claiming reduced air fares. Knapp claimed the move was "petty" and would cost him $10,000 a year in air fares and claimed it was motivated by a government wishing to restrict the movements of its political opponents. Afterwards he was challenged for the party leadership at the 1990 party conference by Mary Tierney, the Democrat candidate for Eden, but he easily defeated the challenge by 90 votes to 8. In 1990, Knapp was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. He led the Democrats at the and contested East Coast Bays once again without success. He decided to step down as leader at the 1991 party conference. Knapp was always critical of the Democrats decision to join the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

which he charged with overwhelming the Democrats identity due to being dominated by the

NewLabour Party The NewLabour Party was a centre-left political party in New Zealand that operated from 1989 to 2000. It was founded by Jim Anderton, an member of parliament (MP) and former president of the New Zealand Labour Party. NewLabour was established b ...

and in 1996 he quit the party. Following his breaking with the Democrats he was involved with

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...

. After leaving active politics he became a real estate agent in 1993, first in Auckland and later

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea co ...

, Australia.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Garry Thomas 1947 births Living people Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand Democratic Party for Social Credit politicians New Zealand First politicians New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Social Credit Party (New Zealand) MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1987 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election